Meeting
by Petra Delling
Summary: The Emperor is alive. He wants Skywalker. He will not give up. He no longer trust Darth Vader with young skywalker, so he must depend on another: Mara Jade Ch3 is up
1. Chapter One

I am not getting paid for writing this story, I am doing it for fun. All the characters are owned by George Lucas.  
  
Let me give you a quick background to this story. It is a day after the death star blew up, but Vader, Luke, and the Emperor were not on the Death Star when it blew. The Emperor got a sudden foreboding during the conflict, and knocked Luke out. Luke woke up a day later, confused. I would like to remind you that Luke and Mara are a far cry emotionally and mentally from the people they are in Heir and Visions.  
  
Luke rubbed his eyes wearily and sat up, looking about bewilderedly. He was in a small room containing a cot, on which he was sitting; a refresher; and a wooden chair, on which a woman he had never seen before was sitting. She was slim and athletic looking with brilliant red hair, green eyes, and a bored expression. A blaster was visible on the belt of her black jumpsuit. She sat in front of a door, which appeared to be the only entrance into the cell in which he resided, for he had decided he was in a cell.  
  
Now familiar with his surroundings Luke tried to remember how he got here. He had been on the Death Star with Vader and the Emperor. Was he still on the Death Star? Luke frowned and centered his thoughts on the area around him. He could feel the presence of millions of people. He must be Coruscant.  
  
Before Luke could make any further speculations, the redhead spoke, "It's about time you woke up," She knocked on the door calling, "Guard, the prisoner's awake, bring in the food."  
  
A stormtrooper entered and put a bowl of soup on the floor of the cell, then exited.  
  
"Go ahead and eat it. It isn't poisoned. There are simpler ways we could get rid of you, with or without your Jedi skills." The redhead commented.  
  
Luke bent down and picked up the bowl. He looked up at his cellmate and asked as he sat back down on the cot, "Who are you, and why are you here?"  
  
"My name is none of your business. I'm here to make sure that you don't try any of your Jedi tricks and escape. Vader and the Emperor do not have the time."  
  
Luke took this in with a slow nod and began to devour his soup. He fully planned on escaping and did not see how she could stop him. He was missing his lightsaber, but he would just have to deal with that. There were many ways in which he could think of to escape, most, if not all of them involving overpowering the guard and his cellmate. The Emperor must think he was much worse off training wise than he really was. Luke formulated his plan as he finished his soup. He would use Jedi mind tricks to overcome his cellmate and take her blaster. He would call the stormtrooper in to collect his soup bowl and would then knock the stormtrooper out and steal his uniform. It was a simple plan, but Luke was convinced that his plan would work.  
  
As he took his last sip of soup he spoke in a soothing voice to his cellmate, "You will let me leave the cell."  
  
To his utter surprise and dismay, she snorted in response, "Over my dead body I will!" He tried again and to this she simply replied, "Give it up," Luke could not keep himself from staring at her in an openmouthed stupor. "Are you done with you soup?" He nodded glumly and handed her the bowl. She knocked on the door and the stormtrooper relieved her of it. She stared at him impassively and questioned sarcastically, "Do you think the Emperor would be so stupid as to put you alone in a cell with an ordinary armed person, easily susceptible to your Jedi ways?"  
  
Mara Jade leaned back into her chair and stared at the wall of the cell. She was surprised at Skywalker's stupidity. The Rebel hero was a dope. When the Emperor had assigned her this mission she thought it would be a challenge. Mara felt a change in Skywalker's force presence. She glanced over at him quickly. He was sitting motionless on the bunk. Peace and calm radiated from him like heat from the sun. Mara grunted. Skywalker was probably just showing off his skills. It was going to be a trying mission; she could not let her guard down for a moment. Mara had seen Skywalker's combat skills at Tatooine and knew with the force he would be a tough adversary to fight. That was why the Emperor had chosen her. If he tried to take her over physically, she'd show him something.  
  
When Skywalker got out of his trance, he was full of questions. Mara was ready for him however and replied with staccato answers.  
  
"Was the death star destroyed?"  
  
"I don't know, I've never set foot on the thing."  
  
"Does the Alliance still exist?"  
  
"How should I know, do I look like a rebel to you?"  
  
"How long was I asleep?"  
  
"Quite some time."  
  
"What does the…"  
  
"Be quiet." Mara shot back at him and dared him to say another word with her eyes.  
  
Luke leaned back against the bunk and sighed. It seemed hopeless. But he must not give up trying to escape. If he could get past this woman, the rest would be easy. So he tried to assess her strengths and weaknesses. Her ease in avoiding answering his questions told him she was intelligent, he could not trick her into letting him free. He himself did not yet have enough knowledge of the force to challenge her for he did not know the extent of her knowledge in the force. Looking at her he could not see any physical weaknesses, besides the blaster on her hip rested there with ease. He did not doubt that she could use it. Things were not looking good. Luke decided to try and judge her personality for weaknesses. She was definitely not talkative or trusting, he did not even know her name. Vanity was not an issue with her, her black jumpsuit implied that, despite the fact that she was beautiful. He sighed again and closed his eyes. This was going to be difficult. 


	2. Chapter Two

"Back on Tatooine," Skywalker began and Mara rolled her eyes. "Shut up." Skywalker continued regardless, "My friends and I did a lot of flying in our Skyhoppers when we had free time, once, my friend Biggs and I were flying through Begger's Canyon when we saw." She could not get him to shut up. Mara had attempted twice more to quiet him, but to no avail. He simply ignored her. Presently Mara was considering knocking him out, but her Master would probably not appreciate that. She would have to find another way to quiet him. Quickly Mara ran through her options and could not find any way to quiet Skywalker without injuring him, permanently. She would just have to wait here until her Master contacted her.  
  
Luke continued talking. He had not talked this much since Bespin. It felt kind of nice to have a long conversation, if only a one-way conversation. He was talking about Tatooine. He spoke of desert legends, stories of him and his friends when they goofed off at Anchorhead, stories he had heard from deep space pilots of far off worlds that, even though he had broken through Tatooine's atmosphere, still seemed distant and dreamlike. His watcher, however, did not seem to be paying attention. She stared at the wall in front of her, never responding in the slightest to any of Luke's comments. Getting desperate, Luke started telling a tale he had heard about the Jabba the Hutt's villainous deeds. At the mention of Jabba his watcher responded for the first time. She shifted her leg. That had to mean something. Luke finished his tale and moved on, storing what he had learned away.  
  
Mara seethed inside. Where did he get the nerve to mention Jabba, to her! The memories of that day were still livid in her mind. That was the first and last time she failed her Master. Never would it happen again. She could still feel the anguish in her soul. She had failed the one person in the entire Universe who counted. Mara could not continue with her thoughts because a stromtrooper's knock was heard outside before the door wooshed open. Skywalker stopped talking a straightened from the cross-legged pose. A wave of solemnity washed over his face, changing he that had been the innocent farm boy to the composed Jedi Knight.  
  
"Let's go," The stormtrooper said briskly and Luke slowly stood up. His watcher stood up with him and they walked side by side through the halls with the stormtrooper leading. After making several turns, they stopped in front of a door with two royal guards standing in front. The stormtrooper then stopped and the watcher guided Luke in. The room was dark and empty with minimum lighting on the walls and no windows. There was only one piece of furniture in the room, a black chair. Seated in that chair was the Emperor. Luke refused to be intimidated. He stopped halfway to the chair from the door. The watcher turned back once and looked at him, but continued on her way; walking with a confidence that told Luke she was accustomed to the Emperor. Luke could not sense his father's presence.  
  
Mara bowed down on one knee in front of her Master. Slowly he turned his chair around and gazed at her, not speaking. Mara could not help but feel a flicker of pride, he thought she was more important that Skywalker! "Arise, My Hand," her Master spoke, breaking the silence, "you have done well, very well indeed. Go now and refresh yourself." Mara stood up and nodded. She looked towards her Master, but his eyes lay on Skywalker, who was still standing awkwardly near the door. She turned around and passed by him, getting a good look at his face. Mara could not help but be impressed. It was seldom that she saw a look of such determination and will on anyone's face, let alone the face of one who was having a conference with the ruler of the known worlds. Mara could not help but feel a twinge of sorrow for this boy dressed in Jedi's clothing. 


	3. Chapter 3

Thank those three of you who reviewed SO VERY MUCH! I love reviews! Here's a chapter concerning Leia.  
  
Leia Organa stared unseeing at the large window, her head rested on the cool, metal desktop. So much had happened in so little time. She thought back over the events of the past few years, all of her sorrows and triumphs. Leia stopped at one of the most recent events and one of the closest to her heart. Luke's disappearance. Luke Skywalker. Tatooine Farm boy. Jedi Knight. Brother. The last two still frightened Leia. From what she had heard about the Jedi of the Old Republic, they had had unbelievable power. She had seen Luke display some of this and new the tales were true. He, a beginner, had power enough to face off Darth Vader and the Emperor alone and live. He had lived, Leia knew. She did not know how, but Luke was alive. Everyone told her that he was gone, but Leia would not believe. Luke told that she had inherited some of the power that ran through his veins. Maybe this was its way of expressing itself. She could not count all of the premonitions she had had even before meeting Luke. She had always known things that she had know way of knowing. That was how she knew Luke was alive. Only one person believed her. Han. Leia's mind was instantly distracted at the mere thought of the cocky smuggler. She had always wondered what love was like. She had never come close to what is really was. Her one and only was not a princess's typical knight in shining armor. He could do many more daring deeds on his steed, the Millennium Falcon then most, but his tricks were not always something a princess would condone. Despite all of his faults, he was just right for her. Leia switched her thought train right there. She could day dream about Han later, right now she should be worrying about Luke. Han and Chewie were the only ones who knew about her family ties with Luke, she had not had the nerve to tell anyone else, fearing they would not believe here. She had no prove, only Luke's word and an indescribable feeling. So she was the one who had to figure out where Luke was. Right now she was considering three options. One, Luke had escaped but was stranded on Endor or another planet without communication. This however, was unlikely because there was the problem of the origin of the ship Luke would have used to get away from the Death Star and the likely hood that he could not find anyway to contact them, with the high military codes he possessed. Two, Luke had joined the dark side and there was now a third dark lord. Leia shivered at the thought. Fortunately, this was also unlikely. With Luke's knowledge of the Rebellion, they would have noticed a change in Imperial tactics and Leia felt that she would have sensed Luke's turning also. Third, Luke was being held captive. If he was captive then Leia's two best guesses to where he was being held was either a little known planet where they could hide him away or he was being held on Coruscant, where the Emperor could keep a very close eye on the last of the Jedi. It was these last options that Leia thought the most likely. The problem was doing something about it. If Luke was on an out-of-the-way world, there was little that she could do, other than pull a few strings with the people she knew on out-of-the-way worlds and put them on the lookout. If he was on Coruscant, well, there was not anything she could do until she had proof that he was there. It was too risky to send a team in to get him if it turned out he was not there. There was nothing she could do, she would have to wait for a sign. 


End file.
